For The Best
by oceayen
Summary: <html><head></head>When a mood ring unwittingly reveals your secret feelings for your best friend, the best thing to do is to lie. Not to blush and blurt out unconvincing claims of denial; because that might actually lead him to believe that it's true. Or, if one is dealing with a person even half as dense as Teshigawara Naoya, it will just lead to endless teasing, which is almost as annoying.</html>


**Prompt:** otpprompts / Imagine your OTP in a gift shop or something of the like, possibly before they become a couple. Person A spots a mood ring, and just for giggles, they slip it on their finger. It changes to the color indicating "in love". Person B begins to question or tease them about it, but A brushes it off, replying that it's just a toy and doesn't mean anything. What happens next is up to you.

**A/N:** Denial isn't just a river in Egypt, Mochizuki-kun. Ahaha, I haven't written an actual thing this long that's not an RP reply _and_ watched Another in a long time, so unfortunately my skills are pretty rusty. Like, I'm not exactly happy with this one. But.. enjoy?

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><p>"The gift shop, Teshigawara-kun?"<p>

"_Hai!_" replied the addressed rather gregariously. "You want something that will remind you of this place, don't you?" There is a spring in his step, a smile on his lips, an enthusiastic note in his voice, and Yuuya can't help but think that he fits in so well with the surroundings.

Let the surroundings be described now, to completely paint the picture (for Yuuya does dislike the thought of an unfinished painting): butterflies flutter around neatly kept shrubs, flowers bloom brightly against verdant foliage. The way to the gift shop is littered with various works of artistry and architecture that Yuuya's trained eye cannot help but take notice of. Beautiful gazebos perched on slightly elevated hills, the occasional sculpture or rock arrangement; _art._ The sun smiles at the resort today and the cloudless sky is a pleasant blue, with the occasional bird passing by; such is an ideal summer day.

Summer days that, he thinks sadly, are going to end in a few weeks. He can already envision the dull desks and droning voice of a boring professor that will eventually replace the sights of his favorite season. Not to say that he doesn't find the _utter beauty_ in watching his fellow students drool at the incomprehensible equations scrawled on the blackboard, but the _fascinating_ image really cannot compare to what he sees right now.

"I suppose," he relents, smiling back. "But I'm not very good at picking things to buy." Indeed, when faced with several options, each with an equal degree of desirability, he often takes too long a time to choose just one thing. One—cough, Naoya—could argue that he could buy all of them, but that's just not his style.

"I keep telling you to just buy the things." They can see the gift shop now, a tiny, cozy, flat-roofed building made of wood, complete with the cheesy sign that proclaims the name of the resort with "gift shop," written beside it.

"You know I can't do that!"

"_Tch_, fine," replies Naoya with fake, teasing annoyance. Yuuya rolls his eyes.

"I might keep you there for a pretty long time."

"That's fine. But if you really can't pick between two things and end up keeping us there for more than two hours—"

"That was _one_ time." Slow emergence of a flustered expression.

"—then I'm going to buy both for you."

Naoya finishes the statement cheerfully, ignoring his companion's flustered protest, and said companion stops in his tracks to spare a careful glance at his friend's expression. It's filled with satisfaction, but nothing that implies that he had been joking about buying things for Yuuya.

"..What?"

"N-Nothing!" Cue a nervous laugh; seems that he had been spacing out. In hindsight, it's really not that surprising. Naoya loves to treat people (and being treated as well, he thinks dryly). Perhaps the thing that brought out that embarrassing reaction was the observation that it's only the two of them this time (usually, when Naoya pays, they're with their other friends), and really, isn't paying for the other person as well something that half of a _couple_ does?

..What an embarrassing train of thought.

Seriously. He should not be thinking like that. Just _what_ is up with him today?

He wipes the blush off his face just as they reach the door that leads to the gift shop's interior, only for it to return when Naoya opens the door with an, "After you." The gesture is met with a glare; a pathetically poor attempt to mask his embarrassment, because unfortunately, Yuuya is one of those people that aren't very good at sending dirty looks. _Surprise, surprise._

"I feel like a girl," muttered resignedly as he walks through the door anyway. A chuckle is released behind him, just over his shoulder, and he takes a startled step forward, almost knocking over a bonsai. The rather gloomy cashier shoots him a dirty look—much more effective than his own—before returning to her magazine.

"At least I didn't say _'ladies first.'_" A groan is audibly heard. A normal passerby would think the statement a man's way of defending himself, but Yuuya recognizes it as a rather underhanded reference to a very discomfiting experience that happened a month ago, when a bespectacled male had thought him a _girl_ and had opened the door to a coffee shop for him, perhaps in the hopes of earning a morning coffee date or something preposterous like that. And since Yuuya is just a _very lucky _person overall, Naoya had been waiting inside for him and was witness to the entire spectacle.

"S-Shut up," he replies sourly, unable to think of a comeback. Admittedly, the statement is quite halfhearted; as time passed, even he has managed to find some humor in the event. Sad, but it's not very uncommon for people to mistake him for a girl. Such is the consequence of his feminine features.

"Aw, Chizu, don't be like that." Naoya puts an arm around his shoulders. Shamefully, this manages to evaporate most of his annoyance. Sigh. Does Naoya have that effect on a lot of people, or is it just him? "_..Aha! _I'll buy you something as an apology. C'mon." It's no heavy matter and they both know that. But before he can protest, he finds himself being dragged throughout the gift shop, being subjected to rows of kitschy key chains and figurines and Naoya's random comments. Finally, they slow down, both tired by the sudden release of energy. Or at least, Yuuya is. The other seems to be as energetic as ever and is now checking out a bunch of wooden statuettes.

Nothing has managed to hold his attention thus far; while there are lots of things that he wouldn't mind taking home, he always wants his souvenirs to be special. It's a trait that seems to be present in every member of his immediate family, and during vacations it's not an unusual happening for them to spend hours in a shop because of indecision—or, as they call it, careful consideration, especially in the case of himself and his half-sister. They all love their souvenirs and pick them carefully. In fact, he'd buy them some things right now, but they've been to that particular resort before so he doesn't really see any reason to.

He spends the next ten minutes browsing the wares with his eyes, until eventually something catches his eye. A tray of.. mood rings? Interesting. He has heard of them before, but never has he worn one. Legitimate-looking, ornate rings, etched with pretty symbols, most of them representations of sea creatures or seashells. Their most eye catching attribute, however, is the large gem-thing adorning each one. All the stones are currently a shade of dirty white; neutral, but he expects that will change once someone puts it on. Toys, of course. They can't possibly be real. The notion is fantastical, though admittedly cute.

_Eh. Why not? _he thinks, and after careful scrutiny, picks one patterned with seashells and slips it on his ring finger. It's a bit loose, but not loose enough to fall off or fit his middle finger. The color doesn't change, but he figures it takes a few seconds to take effect.

Suddenly, a familiar voice calls out, "Whoa—mood rings! Cool. I had one before but I lost it." Sounds of rubber soles on carpet gradually grow louder as Naoya rushes over excitedly. Yuuya turns around, smiling, and holds up his left hand.

"What's this mean?" A second after Naoya spoke, the ring had changed color. Presently it glows a lovely shade of lavender; his favorite color, coincidentally.

For a few seconds—probably just his imagination acting up, really, what comes next is that unlikely—a blush spreads across his cheeks, but then it suddenly disappears and his blithesome smile is back and Mochizuki just raises his brows because _what was that?_ "Why, is this a confession, Chizu?" This is asked with that annoying gesture of his; the one where he runs his fingers through his hair, paired with a sheepish smile.

"What do you mean?" Confusion brings about knit brows as his gaze travels from his friend's face to the ring, which obstinately remains the same shade.

"Purple means 'in love'!" He is informed, matter-of-factly, all too cheerfully for his liking. In fact, this bluntness actually contributes to the glacial shock he feels upon hearing the revelation. It's like his blood has turned into ice, frozen, as his heart picks up its pace, while he's being hit by a truck. For some reason, a biology lesson surfaces in his thoughts; if the heart beats faster, this means it is striving to supply more oxygen.

If so, then why can't he breathe? Or maybe that's the lungs?

What.

(God, he can't even think straight.)

He gulps. Okay, deep breaths, and try to melt that look of shock off your face, Yuuya. Play it cool. Because that can't be true, despite all the weird thoughts he's been having lately. Mood rings don't actually work, the sky is blue, and Mochizuki Yuuya is _not_ in love with Teshigawara Naoya.

"I-I-I—that's preposterous!" His voice seems higher than usual. He's not even _gay._ "I'm _not_ in love with _you!_"

So much for playing it cool. Isn't he just the smoothest?

"The mood ring says otherwise," Naoya sings gleefully. Evil. Utterly evil. "Just admit it, Chizu. No need to be shy. You're not the first one."

"S-S-Shut up! It's not even purple." At this point he is covering his face with his hands, because apparently that is the universal sign for honest denial now. "It's lavender."

"Purple, lavender. Po-tay-to, po-ta-to." The English comes out as slightly awkward, but he manages to get his point across. He even has the _nerve_ to poke the side of Yuuya's head.

"You're impossible." Slowly, he lowers his hands, pink still evident on his cheeks. "It's just a toy." His gaze lowers to the ring and a tiny smile shatters the embarrassed expression he's been donning for the past few minutes. Now that he thinks about it, it is a bit funny. Completely false, though. He's not in love with Naoya. Why would he be?

Sure, Naoya is actually really kind and caring, once you look past the occasionally obnoxious and kind of insensitive outer layer. He's friendly, welcoming, and everyone likes him. He doesn't look bad, too. In fact, he can think of quite a number of girls in school who would love to go out on a date with him. His presence is something that Yuuya treasures, deeply, because Naoya's his _best friend_ and deeper feelings be _damned_, along with all the other things that might ruin their friendship. Yuuya was content with this, is content with this, and will continue to be content with this until he's standing as the best man during Naoya's wedding, exchanging hugs and felicitations with his beautiful future wife, and past that as well.

Naoya is his best friend, and he can't think of a better way things can be. For even if he does have feelings for him, which he totally does _not_, such emotions will only serve to scare Naoya away. And he doesn't want that.

He doesn't want Naoya to run away.

Besides, Naoya is really noisy and he wakes up early and he will probably wake Yuuya up every morning by dumping cold water on him. He's really disorganized and Yuuya would have to clean and rearrange after him every day. He's not even a good cook.

"Denial isn't just a river in Egypt."

"I'm surprised you even know about the Nile." Comments like this from him are rare, but blaming him would be rather unfair, don't you think? He's still quite disoriented and is blurting things out without his usual filter.

He laughs, placing an arm around Yuuya's shoulders again. "Fine, you win for now. But one day you'll be confessing your love for me, and I'll remind you of this day."

Yuuya's heart skips a beat. He ignores it. "Sure," he replies with a deadpan voice. "Whatever you say."

"Let's go pay. My treat."

He doesn't protest, except for a quick, "How about you? Aren't you buying something?"

In response, Naoya holds up his left hand, where an identical mood ring is situated around his ring finger.

Identical, to the color.

He's too busy shaking his hand to notice the sudden shift in Yuuya's expression. One with wide eyes, parted lips, complementary to the rate of his heartbeat. It's still not slowing down. "So we match. I think these things are rigged to turn purple, though."

"Yeah.." Meaningless agreements. Of course. He's always hated them. There's always a logical explanation.

The way things are, is the way things should be.

It's for the best.


End file.
